THE MINIMAL MODEL METHOD FOR ESTIMATING PARAMETERS OF GLUCOSE KINETICS AND INSULIN SECRETION DURING THE IVGTT (INTRAVENOUS GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST) HAS BEEN STEADILY GAINING SUCCESS WITHIN THE SCIENTIFIC AND CLINICAL COMMUNITIES IN RECENT YEARS. BRIEFLY, THE MINIMAL MODEL APPROACH AIMS AT ESTIMATING PARAMETERS OF INTEREST (E.G. INSULIN SENSITIVITY) FROM A RELATIVELY SIMPLE EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE (THE IVGTT) AND THE USE OF A "PARSIMONIOUS" (I.E. NEITHER EXCESSIVELY DE TAILED, NOR TOO SIMPLIFIED, IN A WORD "MINIMAL") MODEL OF THE SYSTEM AT STUDY. OVER THE YEARS, TOGETHER WITH THE CLASSICAL MINIMAL MODEL OF UNLABELED GLUCOSE DISAPPEARANCE (THAT IS HEREAFTER CALL COLD MINIMAL MODEL), THE MINIMAL MODEL OF TRACER GLUCOSE KINETICS (HEREAFTER CALLED HOT MINIMAL MODEL) HAS GAINED RECOGNITION AS A PROMISING TOOL THAT HELPS, AT VARIANCE WITH THE COLD MINIMAL MODEL, TO SEGREGATE THE PROCESSES OF GLUCOSE UTILIZATION AND PRODUCTION. ONE OF LAST YEAR'S RESEARCH TOPICS WAS THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE COLD AND HOT MINIMAL MODEL PARAMETERS IN NIDDM PATIENTS, DURING AN IVGTT LABELED WITH [6,6-2H2 ]GLUCOSE. TO ENHANCE THE INSULIN RESPONSE, OTHERWISE ABSENT IN THIS TYPE OF PATIENTS, AN INSULIN INFUSION WAS ADMINISTERED BETWEEN 20 AND 25 MINUTES. THE AIM OF THE STUDY WAS TO MEASURE COLD AND HOT GLUCOSE EFFECTIVENESS AND INSULIN SENSITIVITY USING THE MINIMAL MODELS, AND WE COULD CONCLUDE [4] THAT, WHILE IN THREE CASES OUT OF SEVEN THE COLD MINIMAL MODEL GAVE UNACCEPTABLE RESULTS (UNACCEPTABLE PRECISION OF THE ESTIMATES WAS OBSERVED), THE HOT MINIMAL MODEL PARAMETERS WERE ALWAYS ESTIMATED WITH GOOD PRECISION. SAAM II WAS USED BOTH DURING THE ACTUAL MODEL IDENTIFICATION AND DURING SIMULATION, WHEN WE TRIED TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF RENAL GLUCOSE LOSS ON COLD AND HOT MINIMAL MODEL PARAMETER ESTIMATES. OUR CONCLUSION [5] WAS THAT, WHILE THE COLD MODEL PARAMETERS WERE STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY THE ASSUMPTION OF RENAL GLUCOSE LOSS DURING THE TEST, ON THE OTHER HAND THE HOT MODEL PARAMETERS WERE QUITE ROBUST.